Food Rules From Michael Pollan
In yesterday’s New York Times, Michael Pollan asked people for examples of the food rules they grew up with or have today.
Here are some of the examples he shares:
- “Eat your colors,”… “citing the value of including as many different phytochemicals in the diet as possible.”
- “The Japanese say “hara hachi bu” (“eat until you are four-fifths full”).”
- “Germans advise eaters to ‘tie off the sack before it’s full.’”
- “the Prophet Muhammad recommended that a full belly should contain one-third food, one-third drink and one-third air.”
- His own Russian-Jewish grandfather used to say at the end of every meal, “I always like to leave the table a little bit hungry.”
- “It’s not food if it comes to you through the window of a car.”
- “Don’t eat at any restaurant of which there is more than just one.”
- “A snack is not the same thing as a treat.”
- “If a bug won’t eat it, why would you?”
The one rule he doesn’t mention is the one that was featured in a NY Times Magazine article in conjunction with his book “In Defense Of Food”:
“Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.”
Expanding on the not too much part, we’d add “In all things food, the focus should be quality over quantity”.
There are over a thousand individual quotes as of this writing, so check them out.